Lambic Discussion Thread

[infi]

Posting it now, but– few weeks ago, I salvaged these bottles from a freak thermostat incident. My fridge's internal temperature all of a sudden dropped below freezing, and my Cantillon bottles began to freeze, with two bottles' caps popping right off. The cork on the LPG '07 actually shot out too, and luckily I was in the room and heard the cork come off inside the fridge. I immediately open the door and there is just lambic and geuze puddles on the shelf, and continuous foam leaking out of the bottles. I removed them immediately and placed them in an idle cooler to defrost overnight and hoped for the best. And these were the results:

LPG '07 lost ~80% of its carbonation due to the cork loss. But the palate was incredibly mineral-laden with amazing lactic and lemon-like tartness. Considerably a bit more sweeter and drier than the Classic Gueuze as well, yet still refreshing. Smelt incredibly musty and funky– probably its best feature. And the remaining dregs were so murky, it was amazing. LPG definitely benefits from age, and should be enjoyed later than sooner.

St. Lam '11 developed a good amount of tannic dryness, just like an aged merlot. The grape flavor dissipated a bit with the time, but the lactic acidity from the lambic complemented even more, along with the red wine-dryness. Smelt like stale, dry, and aged cheese with a touch of cider vinegar. The color was what blew me away.. still a stunning, ruby red.

5 other bottles survived and were relocated, but hope they weren't jeopardized.

TL;DR – fridge thermostat ****, Cantillon bottles froze, opened following day. Still $$$.

 

[SeaWatchman]

Sorry for your (almost) loss.

 

[Rowingbrewer1]

Is It possible to use 2 temp controllers in a row on the same device to prevent this sort of thing from happening?

 

[Beerontwowheels]

Couples (4) bottles of Golden Blend still up on etre.

 

[owens99]

Did Armand make another batch of Intense Red Kriek for 2014?

Bottled 2014, released recently, as in within the last week, I believe.

Maybe my memory is bad, but I thought the original batch was an attempt to make up for a bad/unusual batch of cherries. Does this ring any bells or did I hallucinate it? I'm very curious about it because I think the 3F standard kriek is much better than Intense Red, and I'm surprised to find out he's making more.

 

[stupac2]

Is It possible to use 2 temp controllers in a row on the same device to prevent this sort of thing from happening?

I can't think of any reason why that wouldn't work. If it breaks in the other direction though (just stays turned off) then your stuff will get too warm. You might get weird results, PIDs are programmed to change the temperature with specific curvatures and those might interact oddly.

 

[kscaldef]

Maybe my memory is bad, but I thought the original batch was an attempt to make up for a bad/unusual batch of cherries. Does this ring any bells or did I hallucinate it? I'm very curious about it because I think the 3F standard kriek is much better than Intense Red, and I'm surprised to find out he's making more.

I'm not sure if that was ever said explicitly, but I agree with you and strongly suspect Intense Red was an example of a brewer trying to cover up (unsuccessfully, IMO) a lack of quality with quantity.

 

[SeaWatchman]

I'm not sure if that was ever said explicitly, but I agree with you and strongly suspect Intense Red was an example of a brewer trying to cover up (unsuccessfully, IMO) a lack of quality with quantity.

I feel like it was deliberate. There are regular batches of kriek fork that year and from around that bottling period. It's really no different than using extra cherries in the case of something like LPK vs. regular kriek. I like Intense Red but not enough to buy s bunch more. It's fantastic with a splash of prosecco in it.

 

[Rowingbrewer1]

I can't think of any reason why that wouldn't work. If it breaks in the other direction though (just stays turned off) then your stuff will get too warm. You might get weird results, PIDs are programmed to change the temperature with specific curvatures and those might interact oddly.

I know if one broke it could prevent the other from cooling, but this would likely be noticed before too long. Also you are far less likely to lose bottles if the temp controller stopped the cooling process and it warmed up in the fridge for 1-2 weeks than you would be if it continually cooled for 1-2 weeks in which case you would likely lose all bottles.

 

[stupac2]

I know if one broke it could prevent the other from cooling, but this would likely be noticed before too long. Also you are far less likely to lose bottles if the temp controller stopped the cooling process and it warmed up in the fridge for 1-2 weeks than you would be if it continually cooled for 1-2 weeks in which case you would likely lose all bottles.

Depends on the cooling system you're using. My wine fridge, for instance, uses Peltier cooling which is more efficient electrically but more expensive for the cooling you get, which means they don't install systems capable of getting too cold relative to the environment. Even at the coldest point my house gets that cooling system is simply incapable of getting the beer cold enough to freeze. If you're concerned about a PID breaking into the on position (which I don't think is common but obviously can happen) implementing a system that's not actually capable of freezing because the cooling isn't strong enough seems a better way to go to me.

 

[Rau711]

Hey guys, now that I am rolling in Lambic, like 5 bottles, what is the temp range to keep them? I have them at 55 right now with the rest of my beers, but wondering if that is too cold?

 

[Rowingbrewer1]

Hey guys, now that I am rolling in Lambic, like 5 bottles, what is the temp range to keep them? I have them at 55 right now with the rest of my beers, but wondering if that is too cold?

Sounds good to me. Keep on rolling brah

 

[SeaWatchman]

Hey guys, now that I am rolling in Lambic, like 5 bottles, what is the temp range to keep them? I have them at 55 right now with the rest of my beers, but wondering if that is too cold?

You're fine. My cellar (read: unfinished basement) swings from about 54 to 63 depending on the time of year

 

[csano]

Hey guys, now that I am rolling in Lambic, like 5 bottles, what is the temp range to keep them? I have them at 55 right now with the rest of my beers, but wondering if that is too cold?

That's too cold. Better to drink up, and not buy any more.

 

[csano]

I feel like it was deliberate. There are regular batches of kriek fork that year and from around that bottling period. It's really no different than using extra cherries in the case of something like LPK vs. regular kriek. I like Intense Red but not enough to buy s bunch more. It's fantastic with a splash of prosecco in it.

I wonder if it's leftovers from the barrels/tanks that Armand uses for blending the Oude Kriek. Maybe they were too intense and he decided to just bottle them as Intense Red?

 

[SourBrewer]

I wonder if it's leftovers from the barrels/tanks that Armand uses for blending the Oude Kriek. Maybe they were too intense and he decided to just bottle them as Intense Red?

I thought I read that Intense Red was the first blend/idea from Armand's apprentice Michael Blancquaert (or
Michaël Blanckaert?). I can't find proof so maybe I am full of ****.

I did find these two links which indicate it is a collab with a marketing company:

http://thebirchbar.tumblr.com/post/62242206932/9-25-13-3-fonteinen-intense-red

http://translate.googleusercontent..../31086&usg=ALkJrhho8oa5EpsZNCwENHdAB2Mcw7gq2Q

 

[drgarage1]

I thought I read that Intense Red was the first blend/idea from Armand's apprentice Michael Blancquaert (or
Michaël Blanckaert?). I can't find proof so maybe I am full of ****.

I did find these two links which indicate it is a collab with a marketing company:

http://thebirchbar.tumblr.com/post/62242206932/9-25-13-3-fonteinen-intense-red

http://translate.googleusercontent..../31086&usg=ALkJrhho8oa5EpsZNCwENHdAB2Mcw7gq2Q

Either way, it is probably the worst 3F beer I've had.

 

[SourBrewer]

Either way, it is probably the worst 3F beer I've had.

I was thinking of the angle if that was his apprentice's first project, maybe a sign of the future.

 

[drgarage1]

I was thinking of the angle if that was his apprentice's first project, maybe a sign of the future.

Quite worrisome. It's definitely a more authentic product than like a Lindeman's Kriek, but it ends up nearly as sweet, except with the cherry wine body. Interesting to try once, but nowhere near as good as anything else they make. Except maybe Zwet.be.

 

[csano]

Either way, it is probably the worst 3F beer I've had.

Thank god. When SeaWatchman said that he liked it, I thought I had a ****** up palate. Because, you know, he's the authority on lambics/gueuzes.

 

[tehzachatak]

Quite worrisome. It's definitely a more authentic product than like a Lindeman's Kriek, but it ends up nearly as sweet, except with the cherry wine body. Interesting to try once, but nowhere near as good as anything else they make. Except maybe Zwet.be.

That's what the first bottle I had tasted like, but the one I had recently had dried out a bit and had HUGE cherry. Was it perfect? No, but it was pretty ******* good.

 

[LukeAleTime]

According to my untappd I really liked Intense Red.

I gave it 4 and 1/2.

 

[tehzachatak]

Depends on the cooling system you're using. My wine fridge, for instance, uses Peltier cooling which is more efficient electrically but more expensive for the cooling you get, which means they don't install systems capable of getting too cold relative to the environment. Even at the coldest point my house gets that cooling system is simply incapable of getting the beer cold enough to freeze. If you're concerned about a PID breaking into the on position (which I don't think is common but obviously can happen) implementing a system that's not actually capable of freezing because the cooling isn't strong enough seems a better way to go to me.

My beer fridge is also a Peltier fridge and it does give quite a bit of peace of mind that it can't freeze. That being said, I don't refrigerate any of my lambic anyway since I read that article or whatever where Jean says his stored bottles fluctuate between low 50s and high 70s anyway. My unconditioned storage area gets down to low 50s in winter and tops out at maybe 75 in summer, so whatever!

 

[Sourhops]

http://allaboutbeer.com/lindemans-expands-lambic-production/

 

[SeaWatchman]

Thank god. When SeaWatchman said that he liked it, I thought I had a ****** up palate. Because, you know, he's the authority on lambics/gueuzes.

I'm not an authority on anything, but I am astonished people are calling it the worst they've had from them. I'm personally not a fan of their regular Oude Kriek, but I can dig Intense Red. I'll be interested in what this new batch is like, but I'm not going out of my way to order it from Belgium.

 

[drgarage1]

That's what the first bottle I had tasted like, but the one I had recently had dried out a bit and had HUGE cherry. Was it perfect? No, but it was pretty ******* good.

I had one in October, and it was as I described above. It's possible some bottles have improved greatly, but in general, it's a very expensive product that doesn't even live up to the regular kriek.

 

[drgarage1]

I'm not an authority on anything, but I am astonished people are calling it the worst they've had from them. I'm personally not a fan of their regular Oude Kriek, but I can dig Intense Red. I'll be interested in what this new batch is like, but I'm not going out of my way to order it from Belgium.

Honestly, it mainly speaks to how good the rest of their beers are... And that this one was $25/375.

 

[tehzachatak]

I had one in October, and it was as I described above. It's possible some bottles have improved greatly, but in general, it's a very expensive product that doesn't even live up to the regular kriek.

I would agree that I prefer the regular kriek. But I also enjoy that there's some variety out there. It is, of course, expensive. Just wish he'd make Scharbeekse again.

 

[SeaWatchman]

http://allaboutbeer.com/lindemans-expands-lambic-production/

That's encouraging news on a lot of fronts and I hope that means Rowingbrewer 's quest to get Cuvee Rene Kriek to the states is paying off. Their draught lambic that is on tap as a house beer at The Publican in Chicago is phenomenal.

 

[Gonzoillini1]

That's encouraging news on a lot of fronts and I hope that means Rowingbrewer 's quest to get Cuvee Rene Kriek to the states is paying off. Their draught lambic that is on tap as a house beer at The Publican in Chicago is phenomenal.

I'd give you **** for talking about the house Lindemans on at Publican, but it's always on and they don't seem to have issues keeping it in stock.